Hydrogen has previously been extracted from a mixture of gases by selectively passing it through a metallic membrane which is in contact with the mixture at an elevated temperature. The membrane becomes fragile as the result of its exposure to a high temperature hydrogen environment. It would be desirable to decrease the working temperature of the hydrogen extraction process to increase the reliability of operation of such metal membranes, especially in the presence of reactants or products which cause the membrane to become fragile. However, such processes have not worked satisfactorily at lower operating temperatures.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to effectively extract hydrogen at lower temperatures.
A related object of the invention is to provide a hydrogen extraction membrane which can function in both gas and gas-liquid mixtures.
Another object of the invention is to provide a hydrogen extraction membrane having a longer service life than previously known membranes.
Yet another object of the invention is a membrane which can extract hydrogen from active gaseous mixtures at a temperature which minimizes the adsorption of gases on the membrane surface.
Another object of the invention is to expend less energy in a hydrogen extraction process.
Other objects of the invention will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art who is familiar with the description which follows.